The Sweet Aftermath

I nearly botched the trial Costco steak. I cooked the first side for 9 minutes, based on previous experience with 2" steaks. Then I started cooking the other side for 9 minutes. And halfway in, I remembered this was a 1 1/2" job. Whoops! I took it off, and it turned out to be cooked just a tiny bit past medium, so it was acceptable.

I was worried because the beer cooler literally smelled like road kill when I opened it to take the unbutchered roast out. But now that I've eaten, my fears have eased. The vomiting isn't nearly as bad as I expected, and I kind of enjoy the hallucinations. In all seriousness, I feel just fine. I hate to mention this, but the only side effect I've ever had from aged beef was a mild laxative effect. And usually--let's be real--that was actually welcome.

Even though the steak has been rotting for 28 days, it looked like your basic red and white rib eye. No green bits. And here's something odd. It's extremely juicy, even though it was aging in a dry cooler. I actually had to eat over the plate to keep steak juice off the table. The fat on the outside was just a bit funkier than I like. Sadly I did not eat all of it the way I usually do.

I suspect that nothing you do to a choice steak will make it the complete equal of prime. This steak was juicy, tender, and very tasty, but prime is a little better. Still, geez, five bucks a pound! For five bucks a pound, this is the deal of the century. Think about it for a second. A potato costs what? A dollar? Then seven to ten bucks for a steak. Another dollar or two for garlic, butter, and sour cream...you've got 95% of the quality of a Ruth's Chris dinner for thirteen bucks! Oh YES. You know you want that. My prime aged steaks are like $27 each. Shop at Costco and you can have two entire dinners for that.

The experiment was a success. No doubt about that. Within the limits of what is possible with choice meat, this stuff was very impressive.